How a mediocre iPad knock-off could foretell Steve Jobs' eventual doom

By David Gewirtz

On the eve of yet another of Apple’s uniquely scripted branding events, a question comes to mind about who threatens Apple the most. Can the Apple media juggernaut be slowed by Microsoft or even Google? Or, in fact, is Apple’s biggest threat embodied in a $159 nobody-brand digital reader sold by the Dillards department store?

For those of you unfamiliar with Dillards (the store, not the progressive bluegrass band), the company is a $7 billion dollar chain of department stores (I know, I only vague remember them from my childhood, also) located all throughout the southern United States.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/how-a-mediocre-ipad-knock-off-could-foretell-steve-jobs-eventual-doom/9342?tag=mantle_skin;content

Thinking About Possibilities: Arcade Fire Tries To Build The House You Grew Up In Into Latest Music Video

from the greater-interactivity dept

Brandon was the first of a few of you to send over the news of how the band Arcade Fire's latest "music video" is actually an experiment in more interactive HTML 5 experiences. The idea is that you're supposed to put in the address of where you grew up, and the "video" (which actually involves a bunch of different windows, rather than a single "video" window) builds the street you grew up on into the video itself via Google maps satellite view and Google Street View. 

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100831/11190810842.shtml

http://www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire/

Internet free speech protected in the Middle East

By David Gewirtz 

If you haven’t been following Jordanian politics particularly closely (and why would you?), you might have missed an important debate.

Jordan (the Middle Eastern country, not the insanely endowed British model or the best basketball player of all time), has been working towards enacting an Information Systems Crimes Law (which is also known as their Cyber Crimes Law). In doing so, they’ve been trying to define for their nation exactly what constitutes a cybercrime and/or an act of cyberterrorism.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/internet-free-speech-protected-in-the-middle-east/9339?tag=mantle_skin;content

ACTA Officials Firm on September Completion Time

Written by Drew Wilson

Earlier this month, we noted that officials working within ACTA are saying that September is when the negotiations will be finalized. Another report has surfaced that seems to confirm these intentions.

ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) has had quite a roller-coaster of a ride over the years it was being negotiated. Negotiations started as far back as 2007, but we only heard about it part way through 2008 when one of the now earliest versions of the agreement leaked on to Wikileaks. By comparison to before, it must have been nice to work under the total veil of secrecy with no PR backlash working against the negotiators.

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/90464/acta-officials-firm-on-september-completion-time/

Obama administration: "Piracy is flat, unadulterated theft"

By Nate Anderson 

US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke went to Nashville yesterday to address a symposium on intellectual property enforcement, and he threw down the gauntlet: the Obama administration will find, board, and scuttle digital pirate ships, and the SS Copyright is going to get a new coat of armored plating.

"I think it's important to lay down a marker about how the Obama administration views this issue," he said of online copyright infringement. "As Vice President Biden has said on more than one occasion, 'Piracy is flat, unadulterated theft,' and it should be dealt with accordingly."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/08/obama-administration-piracy-is-flat-unadulterated-theft.ars